Nano Bytes

«This seat taken?» As I lower the glass, I see that someone’s come over to my table. The first thing I notice about him is that he’s smiling — a sideways smile that is immediately disarming. The second thing I realize is that, like everyone here, he has an accent. But I can’t place it.

I shake my head and gesture to the empty seat across from me. I don’t recognize him from the station. «You must be the new guy,” I say.

He places his pint of ale down on the table and another rum and coke in front of me. «Is it that obvious?»

«Other than being a new face, no one else would dare approach me like this. Afraid to get a bad evaluation, I think.»

«Even if you were my boss, I couldn’t just let you drink alone, could I?»

I find out that his name is Stephan Lavoie and that he grew up outside Paris, in some little town that no one’s ever heard of.

«And your name?»

No reason for me to act coy when the IT guy is destined to be my only friend. «It’s Willow. Willow Mason. And so what brings you here?» I ask the inevitable question.

«Adventure. Stay for three years; go back to Earth changed by the experience. Isn’t that what everyone wants here?»

«Not everyone. Some people stay their whole lives.»

«But not you, I think?»

I look down into my drink. I’m not sure how much to tell him.

«You didn’t come here for the adventure?»

«It was more of a perfect timing thing.»

«What do you mean?»

«Buy me one more drink and I’ll tell you?»

I’m true to my word. I tell him the whole story.

Anders and I were over. Long over, only neither of us wanted to admit it. He’d supported me emotionally through school. From the time we were both 18, he'd been there. And I did the same for him, while he went through pre–law and law school. But I’d changed in all that time. He’d changed. And I knew we were headed in different directions.

And then there was the fact that I couldn't find a job on Earth. When I told him I found an off-Earth position, it began the biggest fight that we’d ever had.

«What am I supposed to do?» Anders asked. «While you're up there in space, what am I supposed to do? Wait for you?»

«You could come with me.»

«And what? Give up my job?» Anders was on track to become a partner at his firm. Everyone knew that law was still an Earth–bound career. If anyone working on a near-Earth asteroid needed a lawyer, they just went back home.

So when they offered me the job, it seemed like the perfect way to end what had already passed its expiry date. But Anders wasn't going to let me go without a fight. Or at least without getting the last word in. We didn't part on good terms.

«Most people would get a haircut, dye their hair, or get a tattoo to mark the end of a relationship,” I explain to Stephan. «That's most people's idea of radically marking a break–up. But not me, that wasn't radical enough for me. I had to leave Earth.»

«That’s unpleasant.»

«Sorry to bring you down.»

«It’s not that. It’s just that it makes me feel sad. I’m sorry that’s why you’re here.»

«No worries. After all, it’s not all bad.» I try to put a brave face on it. But then he smiles at me, and suddenly I feel as though I might be right. It’s not all bad up here.

* * *

Over the next few months, we start a new habit. Every day at one o’clock p. m., we meet in the stark management lunchroom. At least, 1:00 is what the red LED numbers on wall say. There’s not really daytime here, not in the same way as on Earth. The planetoid’s rotation around its axis is just over five hours, so that it feels like the sun is forever rising and setting, and then rising and setting again. The near constant glare of them, contrasted against the blackness of space, is irritating during the imposed Earth hours of our workday.

During our lunches together, I find out that Stephan is a computer geek. I also notice that he looks nothing like Anders, who was tall with black hair and long limbs. Stephan, on the other hand, has a compact body with short limbs and stocky muscles. He’s got ash blonde hair and small blue eyes that would be called beady on an older man.

One afternoon, while we’re lingering over the corporate supplied sandwiches with their limb roast beef, he tells me about his childhood.

«My parents always wanted us to grow up smart, you know?»

«I know what you mean.» I remember the atlases that populated my childhood home. I can still remember pulling them down from the shelf and finding a quiet corner where I could pour over them for hours.

«They always put puzzles in front of us, always chess for our game. There were three of us kids, and we were supposed to challenge each other to solve harder and harder puzzles.»

«It doesn’t sound like much fun.»

«Are you kidding? I loved it. My parents — they were great. They were the ones who made me love puzzles so much. Logic puzzles, word puzzles, math puzzles — anything. Computers, for me, are the ultimate puzzle. I wouldn’t be where I was today if it weren’t for them. I can’t imagine better parents.»

«You think computers are like a puzzle?»